Sea Legs
by phoenixreal
Summary: MerMay BSD Writers Submission. Dazai finds himself in possession of a very unusual creature. Of course, now he has to do something about him.
1. Chapter 1

Darkness was the first thing he remembered. Always before his very existence, before everything, there was the darkness. Cloying, clutching, grabbing, consuming darkness. There was no thought, only the darkness. Then there was light. The brilliant sun streaming down on the greenish blue of the water was the first clear memory after the dark that he had. He had no memory of anything before the darkness, so he wasn't even sure if there was such a thing as before the darkness. Instead, he focused on what he knew now: the light and the water. He knew his name, and that was all, but even that thought had no form to it because he had no words with which to speak it yet. He was new, and the world was his now.

He learned quickly that he was alone; there were no other creatures like him in the sea. There were many, many different things living in the waters that surrounded him, but nothing like him. The first time he saw what he later would find out was a human, he was surprised because these creatures that walked upon floating things made of something that didn't come from the sea were like him. At least, they were from the waist up.

He found that the humans called themselves pirates or sailors, depending on the floating thing he later learned was called a ship. He would swim near these ships and listen as these humans spoke and he would watch what they would do. He learned over a long time the things that they would say and do, and he found himself wanting to get closer and closer to them to learn more.

Of course, the closer he came to the humans, the more they spotted him. He didn't mind at first, but then it seemed that some started to try and capture him. The first time he was trapped in a net, he panicked and used something to get out in his frustration. He didn't know how he did it, he only knew that he was out, and the ship sank behind him that had netted him. That scared him, and he avoided humans for a while, but he yearned to see them again. He wanted to talk to a human, be with a human, touch them. He wanted to see if they felt like him, and he wanted to know what they did in the dry world.

Then, he found a drowning sailor one night. He was a thin creature, with hair of brown. He remembered his eyes were also brown and that he didn't seem to be fighting the water as much as he should have. He had captured the human as he sunk beneath the storm-tossed waves and for a moment, he touched him and stared into his eyes. He pulled him to the surface because he had learned that humans couldn't live below the water like he did. They only breathed air, while he could breath in the water or in the air. He had tossed the human onto a drifting piece of wood from the ship he had been on that the storm had crashed into small pieces.

The sailor was the only one left from his ship, and at night, while he slept, he would push the human toward the dry world. He didn't want to be caught or seen so he didn't help the sailor during the day. At night, though, he'd leave things he found for him. They were things of the world above the sea, and he didn't know if they would help the human or not. For three days, he pushed the human toward the dry world and finally got him nearly there when another ship came close by.

He had swum away, hiding from the ship, but he thought the human he'd saved had seen him. He wasn't sure, but even if one human saw him, it wouldn't mean more would come. He watched from the shallows as the human was saved by a group of rough men who spoke harsh words and yelled a lot. He heard them call themselves privateers, but they acted like pirates, he thought. Still, the human was saved, and he'd helped save him. So, he'd swam back into the sea, intent on leaving humans alone for a good long while.

His curiosity would be his undoing, though. He couldn't resist trying to see what happened on the ships and would come nearer to them. More than once, he accidently drew a ship's attention and they would bash themselves on the rocks he was hiding in. He couldn't stop them from trying to chase him when they did that. He had to wonder what they were so interested in him for. He hid, though, and he tried his very best not to go up to see the ships. He found himself drawn to them anyway, and he continued despite the danger of being spotted. He could speak, he found, when he was above the water, and when there were no ships, he would often practice speaking like they did, repeating words and phrases that the humans said on the ships.

His grasp of the language was rough, at best, since he had no interaction with those he was mimicking. He learned crude words and gestures that these humans often used, and he would sometimes practice for hours on end. He found his words to be somewhat comforting when he spoke them, so even if no one heard him save the ocean, he continued.

Still, there would be ships that came in the water that seemed to be looking for him. He would hear them yell words that were new, calling him some name that he didn't understand. A mermaid? What was this thing they were looking for now? Was that what he was to them? He didn't know enough of the language to know for sure how to call himself. He only knew that he did have a name, and that wasn't what it was. So, was a mermaid like a fish, he wondered? Could they be looking for him because he was different from them? He wasn't sure, but he learned to recognize the small, fast ships that came into the sea just to hunt. They were the dangerous ones and he would stay away from them. His curiosity wasn't enough to chance being put inside one of their nets again.

Of course, he had no way of knowing how things would turn out given a little more time. He was staying near the shallows more often. He would often hide among the rocks near a cliff and watch the fishing ships go out into the sea. He got used to seeing certain fishermen. He let them alone, though, and tried to avoid being seen by them. He was well under water when he felt as though he should get away for some reason. He didn't understand it, but he headed for deeper water when he was netted again. He knew what would happen if he was forced to defend himself. He fought with the net for a minute, thrashing in the confines until he felt something prick his tail. He turned in the nets to see a human with a mask on his face and something glinting in his hand. He struggled and then everything started to go dark.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"Dazai, stop being lazy," Kunikida said as he kicked the prone form on the deck. "We're putting into port."

Dazai, who was not in the mood to get up, rolled onto his back and looked at the sky. "What port is this?"

"Home port," Kunikida told him as he looked back on the ship. The captain was in his cabin still and the rest of the crew was getting ready to pull into the port.

Their ship, a galleon called the Ada, was an independent ship that often patrolled the area around the port of Yokohama. They were loosely under the purview of the navy, but they were mostly autonomous. Their captain was Yukichi Fukuzawa, a serious-minded man with a great love of the ocean. The first mate was Doppo Kunikida, and he was constantly trying to get Osamu Dazai to work and stop being lazy. He carried a notebook of ideals that he often made notes in.

The rest of their crew were likewise colorful, including one of the few female sailors on the sea, a woman named Akiko Yosano. Yosano was their medic and constantly wanted to find patients to hone her skills on. Also on the ship was a young man named Ranpo Edogawa. He was not very proficient in sailing, but he had an astute mind and caught things that the others missed. He was a self-described detective and so far, was never wrong when he came up with how things happened during a mystery. Their cabin boy was a young country kid named Kenji Miyazawa. He was exceedingly strong and a very hard worker on the ship. Finally, their last member was a young man named Junichirou Tanizaki. Tanizaki sailed in hopes to make his sister Naomi proud of him.

They actually had added a new member to the crew before they set out for this trip, a boy named Atsushi Nakajima. Atsushi was new to sailing, so had spent much of their trip rather ill from the motion of the ship. He was a good kid, though, and willing to work hard. He just needed time to adjust to the life of a sailor.

Dazai sat up finally and stretched his arms over his head before he stood. "It will be good to sleep in a bed that isn't moving again!" he stated as he walked to the side of the ship to watch as they put in to port under Tanizaki's guidance. He was learning quickly how to be an efficient helmsman and navigator for the ship.

As soon as they set into port, Dazai noticed that the Port Mafia, a group of privateers, had also pulled into port. He wrinkled his nose and hoped he didn't run across any of them. He had actually served on their ship for a while after he survived a shipwreck and was rescued by them. They were officially sanctioned by the navy but in reality they were simply pirates with paperwork. He honestly just wanted to find himself a room and relax for a day or two before they put out to sea once again.

"Will you be staying at the Agency Inn?" Kunikida asked as the both walked down the gangplank to the dock.

"Yes, I think so. They have nice rooms and big bathtubs. I'm looking forward to a long soak after this last trip," Dazai said as he adjusted the bandages on his right wrist. They were coming a bit loose already and he would need to straighten them soon.

Kunikida nodded. "I think I'll stay there as well. They seemed quite reasonable last time we were in port."

Their captain would stay with the ship as usual, they knew, while the rest of the crew enjoyed a few days in port. Dazai walked with Kunikida to the Inn and both secured a room for the next couple nights. Dazai bid Kunikida good night and left to find dinner somewhere. He found a nice open café to have dinner at and ate alone. He saw something that caught his attention, though, and that was a guarded door nearby. He had to wonder what was going on in that place to warrant a door guard. He watched for a bit longer and the guard let out a man in a lab coat. He proceeded to lock the door behind him and the guard and him left. Now, Dazai was curious as to what was going on in that building.

Dazai caught the waiter. "What's in that warehouse there?" he asked.

The waiter glanced over at the looming building and shrugged. "I don't know, but there have been an awful lot of people going in and out of the place lately. They're all cheap though and never stop to have anything."

Dazai thanked him and stared at the doorway, wondering what could be hidden inside. He figured he might never know as he got up and went back to the Inn for the night. Once there, he took his much-anticipated bath and soaked a good long while before going to bed for the night. While their baths were nice, their beds were mediocre. However, it was at least not a hammock that swayed with the ocean. He slept well into the next morning before he set out to wander the port city and see what there was to find. He knew that Kunikida would be worried about supplies for the ship, and Yosano would be restocking her medical kit. He wasn't sure if Atsushi would come back to the ship or not considering how ill the sea had made him.

That evening, once again, Dazai found himself at the small café outside the warehouse that was guarded. Again, a man in a lab coat came out and left with the guard. He frowned and got up, walking around to the back of the warehouse where he found another locked door. He pulled out his tools from his pocket and quickly picked the lock to let himself in. Curiosity would be his undoing, he knew, but he wanted to know what was being kept such a guarded secret.

As he came into the back of the building, he saw seals for the government's research division. That explained the lab coats. He came into the main part of the warehouse to see a massive tank of water in the middle of the room. On one side, there was a platform with stairs leading up to it. He came closer to the tank and looked through the murky depths.

Dazai's eyes were wide as he stared into the tank. Something was in there. Something alive. He caught a glimpse of tanned flesh and red hair. Was it a person? Why would they have a person in a closed water tank like this? He put his hands against the glass and waited to see something else in the murky water. He nearly jumped when a pair of slightly webbed hands appeared on the other side and spread out flat against it. Then, it moved closer and Dazai could see clearly what was being kept in such a large tank of water.

He had a wild crop of wavy red hair on his head and a pair of clear gray eyes that were covered in a film that made them look hazy. On either side of his neck were three gills that moved as he breathed in the water. From the waist up, he resembled a fit young man of around twenty or so years of age. However, at the waist, he had what looked like the tail of a fish. It was scintillating colors of blues and greens. The end flared out like a fish tail with nearly translucent frills of the same blue-green tones that made up the rest of the tail. Despite the dim light, and murky water, it was still stunning and reflected what little light was around in a beautiful way. His breath caught as he stood there.

The creature in the tank just stared at Dazai, and Dazai wondered what he was thinking as he looked through the glass at him. His eyes looked to be intelligent and quick as he observed him. He moved his hands to meet the creature's hands and there was a moment that Dazai swore there was something familiar about this creature.

He realized that the creature in the tank had bruises and marks down his arms. Dazai frowned and wondered what they were doing to him here. He looked around and saw that there was a ladder on one end of the tank. Maybe there was an opening? He climbed up the ladder and found that there was a hatch that could be opened from the outside. He opened the hatch and a few seconds later, the creature had swum up to the opening and stuck his head out of the water to stare at Dazai.

"Hello," Dazai said simply as he stared at the no emerged creature. A mermaid? Perhaps.

He stared at him for a second before cocking his head to the side and speaking, "Hello?"

"You can speak our language?" Dazai asked with a grin. This was going better than he expected.

"Some. I have learned some from listening to men on ships," he said and ran a hand over his red hair.

Dazai nodded. "What are they doing to you here? And why are you here?"

"Stupid human, I'm not here because I want to be," he growled, frowning and brows knitting in scowl.

Dazai smiled, liking the spunk this creature had. "Do you have a name?"

He was quiet for a moment and shook his head. "Not in the human tongue."

"Hmm, well, what should we call you? How about Chūya?" Dazai asked with a grin. "I like that name for you."

The creature stared at him for a minute. "Chūya?" he repeated, and Dazai noted that he was repeating words in the same way he said them to him. So, he was still learning the language of humans.

"Chūya," Dazai repeated and smiled. "Now that you have a name, we need to figure out how to get you out of here if you do not wish to be here."

"You will help me?" he said, face twisting into confusion. "You do not wish to steal my body from me?"

"Steal your body from you?" Dazai asked, confused by the strange turn of phrase.

"These men, they stick things into me and pull out pieces of me to take. I heal quickly, though. Still. It fucking hurts." Chūya frowned again.

Dazai smirked. He supposed the language he had picked up was rough. "I see, they are investigating what you are. I can understand their curiosity, but this still isn't right to confine a living creature like this. You want to leave here, right?"

"I want to leave!" Chūya said with emphasis. "But how can I?"

Dazai frowned and looked around. "You can be out of the water for a while?"

"I dunno," he said and narrowed his eyes at Dazai. "I've never been out of the water."

After a second of thinking, Dazai decided. He couldn't leave him here. He had to get him out, but he would obviously have to carry him since he didn't have legs. If he just took him to the water and released him, he would probably be captured again easily. No, he needed to be hidden for a while until these people were on to another project.

"Well, I can take you to my room for now." Hopefully the bathtub was big enough to put him in enough water.

Chūya tilted his head to the side. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'll be fine, here, can you lift yourself out of the tank?" he asked as he stepped back on the platform.

He reached up with his arms and used his tail to push himself up and almost over the edge. Dazai reached out and grabbed him under the arms and pulled him the rest of the way out of the tank and onto the platform. He landed with a thud as he pushed himself up with his arms. Dazai was impressed with how strong his arms were considering how thin he appeared. The area around them was covered in water from it sloshing up and over the side. Dazai knelt and got a grip under Chūya's body and lifted him with a little effort. He wasn't terribly heavy, but he was still a significant weight.

"Well, let's go get you in hiding," he said with a smirk as he carefully navigated the steps down from the platform to the floor.

He hoped that he could get out the back door with him. Dazai managed to get the door open from the inside with a little effort on his part and came out into the darkness of the night. He found that no one was around as he made his way back to the Inn. He felt Chūya clutching him tightly as they moved and before long, they had managed to get into the small room.

"Here, let's put you in the bathtub," he said as he lowered Chūya into the empty bath and turned on the water for him.

"Oh, too hot," he gasped as the warmer water began to fill the tub.

Dazai adjusted it so it was colder for him. Soon enough, the tub was as full as it could be without sloshing over onto the floor when Chūya moved. Dazai smiled at him and shook his head.

"The things I find myself involved with," he muttered as he watched this strange creature situate himself in the water to cover most of his tail.

"Well, you didn't have to take me," Chūya snapped, frowning at him. Dazai only smiled.

"Will you be okay in here alone?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Cramped, but fine. Better than being poked and prodded by those other humans," he grumbled.

Dazai smirked and wondered why this creature looked vaguely familiar to him. Could it have been, all those years ago…? No, there was no way that what he had seen had been real then. Still, he was convinced there was some connection between him and this strange being he'd found. He left him and decided to go see what Kunikida thought about what he'd done. He might be angry, but he might support saving an innocent creature of the sea.

He went to the nearby room and knocked. He had to knock a second time before he heard someone moving around inside the room.

"What is it?" Kunikida said, obviously half asleep.

"Kunikida, I need your help with something," he explained with a broad smile.

"At this time of night?" he groused but followed Dazai as he turned and walked back to his room.

Dazai let him into the room before speaking again. Once inside he smiled. "I seem to have come into possession of a sea creature that needs to be helped."

"Sea creature?" Kunikida asked and frowned. "How in the world did you come into possession of such a thing and why?"

"It was by accident that I broke into this warehouse and found him inside being subjected to experimentation. Here, I'll show you," he said with a grin as he opened the door to the bathroom. "I named him Chūya because he didn't have a name."

Kunikida blinked in surprise as he stared into the bathtub at the reclined creature. Chūya had the end of his tail hanging out of the tub on the side and was laying back against the end of it with his eyes closed. His head popped up and he glared at Dazai first then the newcomer.

"The fuck is this?" Chūya growled, unable to go anywhere.

"This is my friend and shipmate Kunikida. Kunikida, this is Chūya," Dazai said with a sly grin.

Kunikida stared for a minute. "Dazai. You have a mermaid in your bathtub and you stole him from someone."

"Yes, it would seem so," Dazai confirmed as he knelt beside the bathtub and ran a hand over Chūya's red hair. "He was suffering. I couldn't leave him there."

"Since when do you do something so magnanimous as rescuing a suffering creature?" Kunikida said with a sigh. "But you did. So now what do we do with him? You can't keep him in a bathtub."

"I want to go home," Chūya said but turned his head slightly into Dazai's hand.

"Well, we can't just walk him through the middle of the port like this," Kunikida said as he stared at the scintillating scales that covered the tail. "I heard this old story once that mermaids became human on dry land. Maybe you should dry him off?"

"Is that true?" Dazai asked Chūya with a wide grin.

"I don't fucking know," Chūya growled. "I've never been out of the water on the Dry World."

"Well, no time like the present. Kunikida, help me get him out and on the bed and we'll see what happens," Dazai said as he went around to grab Chūya under his arms while Kunikida reached under the tail to lift him.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Chūya protested but had no choice but to go along as he was lifted up from the water and quickly moved by the two men to the other room.

Dazai went and got a towel while Kunikida positioned Chūya's tail on the bed. It was long enough that the end hung off the edge of the bed. Chūya pushed himself to sit up and watched as Dazai began toweling off his tail. He moved every now and then, the powerful tail moving easily despite being out of the water.

"I don't think I like this," Chūya said, tail flicking. "It feels weird, like it's getting tight," he muttered, reaching down and running a hand over the now dry scales.

"How long do we have to wait?" Dazai said, turning to stare at Kunikida.

"I have no idea; it's just an old seaman's story that I've heard over the years," Kunikida said with a shrug. "But if he does turn human, you're gonna need clothes for him."

Dazai put a hand on his chin and stared down at Chūya. "He looks rather small."

"I'm not small!" Chūya snapped, glaring at Dazai.

"You are smaller than me. If you were human, I bet you wouldn't be very tall. Your tail is much longer than legs would be," Dazai observed, running a hand down the dried scales of his tail.

"Humph," Chūya grumped and crossed his arms over his chest. "How would you know anything you stupid…stupid…mackerel!"

Dazai snorted. "Mackerel?" he asked with a grin.

Kunikida sighed and shook his head. "I'll go see if I can borrow some clothes from someone closer to his size."

He turned and left them alone in the room. Dazai smiled and sat down in the chair sitting near the bed.

"Do you know any others like you?" he asked, trying to seem interested in his answers. He was interested, but also worried because of the people from that lab.

Chūya shook his head. "I've always been alone. That's how I got caught in human nets, because of being interested in what they were doing. I knew I should have stayed further out to sea."

Dazai felt a bit sorry for him if that was the case. Being alone completely would be hard. "Well, you managed to get away from those humans."

Chūya leaned back and laid down on the bed. "I'm tired. I wonder if this will work…"

"If it does work, you can walk among humans with no one knowing the difference," Dazai said and reached out to touch his hair as it dried. "Then you can just put out to sea with our ship and we can let you go further out."

A long silence stretched out for a while until Chūya spoke again. "But then I'll be alone again."

"That's true. You could stay with us?" Dazai said before he thought about it. He blinked, not sure why he just said that. Why did he want him to stay with them? He shouldn't care about it, but for some reason, he felt a connection with this strange creature before him. "Um, how do you feel?"

Chūya shifted on the bed and wriggled his tail. "I'm not sure. I don't feel right, but I don't feel bad either…"

After a few minutes there was a knock at the door and Dazai got up to answer it. Kunikida had come back with some clothes. "This was all I could scavenge from the crew. They were curious, but I told them that we'd explain tomorrow."

Dazai took them and saw it was a white shirt and a pair of black pants. "I hope your old seaman's tale is right, otherwise we're going to have a hard time getting him back to the sea."

Kunikida nodded. "There are a couple navy ships in to port right now, so getting him anywhere like this is going to be impossible."

"Alright, I'll just hope that something happens, and he looks at least human enough to take him to our ship," he said and bid Kunikida good night.

He came back into the room to see that Chūya had fallen asleep. He smiled a bit and found a blanket in the linens to cover him up with. His tail still stuck out from the end of it a little. He sat down in the chair to wait and see how things would turn out. Hopefully, by morning, his redheaded mermaid would transform.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Chūya opened his eyes and knew he had slept somewhere different than the water. He felt weird, different in some way. He blinked as he stared up at the ceiling and remembered that the dumb human had taken him out of the tank and wanted to see if he would turn into a human. He didn't _feel_ any different, not really. He sat up and realized that his body was covered, and the human had gone to sleep in the chair beside the bed. He looked around the room and found it to be a plain room with only a few items in it. He could see the door to the bathroom and the door outside. He wondered if it had worked?

He lifted the blanket and stared in shock. He made some sort of noise that was between a squeal and a yelp. It surprised the human, he thought his name was Dazai or something, and he nearly fell off the chair he was sitting in.

"What?" Dazai said as he stared at him.

"I…it worked!" he exclaimed and threw off the blanket to reveal a human appearing lower body. His legs were covered in tiny translucent scales, but they were legs. He wiggled the feet and saw the toes were webbed much like his hands.

"Well, um, here, you need to put this on," Dazai said and shoved clothing at him.

Chūya had no idea what to do with clothes, and he had no idea how to even walk on these appendages. He'd never had legs before, after all. He glared at the human.

"I can't put this on; I don't fucking know how!" he snapped.

Dazai sighed and came over and helped him maneuver his upper body into the white shirt. He then moved his legs to the side of the bed and showed him how to put his feet into the pants and had him stand up. He almost fell back down as soon as he stood, but he managed to hold onto Dazai and keep himself upright.

"Stupid mackerel human," he growled as he tried to balance. It was harder than he imagined.

Dazai got the pants up and tied at the waist. He sighed and Chūya looked down to see they covered his feet because it was too long.

"You're petite, just like I thought," Dazai said with a grin. "See how short you are?"

Chūya looked up at him and was annoyed because he was indeed quite a bit shorter than him. He hated the fact that he'd been right. He snorted and crossed his arms as he sat down hard on the bed. He panted a little from the effort standing had been on him.

Dazai stood back and put his hands on his hips. "Is walking going to be too hard for you?"

He snarled at him. "Of course not, I can handle doing anything a human does!" he pushed himself to stand up again, this time without grabbing onto the infernal human.

It took nearly two hours, but Chūya finally got somewhat able to walk on his newly acquired feet. Dazai had to roll up the legs of the pants for him, though, because he kept tripping on them at first. He felt accomplished when he could walk around the room without falling the first time. He could do this! He found Dazai was smiling at him and he felt a rush of heat to his cheeks. He then sat back down on the bed, completely exhausted after such a short time.

"This is good!" Dazai said as he sat down beside him. He grabbed Chūya's hand and smiled at him again. "Now we can try to get you to our ship and away from these people who were trying to experiment on you."

Chūya felt that same heat flush to his cheeks as they sat there. He nearly jumped when there was a knock on the door. Dazai got up and opened it. Chūya could see that it was the blond-haired man from the night before that had come up with the idea of letting him dry off to get legs.

"It worked!" Dazai exclaimed. "They're not perfectly human at all, covered in scales like his tail was, but he's figured out how to walk on them pretty quickly."

Kunikida adjusted his glasses and nodded. "Good, because the Navy is looking for him. Well, they aren't specifically looking for a mermaid, what they're looking for is 'lost property' that was 'stolen from a government warehouse' last night. I would guess that property is him."

"Hmm," Dazai said as he looked down at Chūya. "Well, as long as someone hasn't worked with him directly, they shouldn't recognize him. We need to get him to the Ada."

"Not a good idea to leave this room right now. The place is crawling with naval folks looking for anyone that looks suspicious. He still has gills, and his ears are definitely not human," Kunikida observed as he folded his arms over his chest.

Chūya reached up and touched his ears where they frilled at the edges. He frowned and wondered what he was going to do. Then something suddenly dawned on him.

"Wait, if you knew about me changing to have human legs, that means somewhere there has been another mermaid like me," he said and looked up between the two tall humans.

Kunikida nodded. "So, it would seem that there has been another mermaid, or well, really merman, since you're a male." Kunikida stopped and looked to Dazai. "He is male, right?"

"Um, yeah, definitely male," Dazai commented, looking at Chūya pointedly.

Chūya growled under his breath and crossed his arms angrily. "Stupid damn humans," he muttered. "I don't wanna be in a big thing of water for others to look at. I just wanna be left alone."

"Well, I'm sure that we'll figure out something. For now, we'll just wait here. We might have to go to the ship at night. Should we tell the captain?" Dazai asked as he stared at Chūya again.

Feeling somewhat exhausted, Chūya laid back down on the bed. "I need to sleep again, I'm tired," he said as he looked over at the two of them.

Kunikida nodded. "You stay here with him, I'll go talk to the captain and see what he wants to do. Behave and stay here," he said and glared at Dazai.

"Ah, why would I do anything like leave him alone?" Dazai asked, looking abashed at the thought.

"You aren't the most reliable person on the ship," Kunikida mumbled and turned to leave.

Chūya was going to tell him something but he was too tired. He felt his eyes close and he fell into a deep sleep again. Beside him, Dazai sat down and watched with a confused expression.

He was not sure what it was that he was feeling, and he had no idea why he was feeling whatever it was. For the first time in a while, he hadn't thought of diving beneath the waves and never coming up again. He hadn't wondered what it would be like to stop existing. It was a strange influence that this strange creature had on him, and he wondered what it meant. Emotions weren't the things he understood the best, and he most certainly wasn't a sentimental man. He yawned, though, growing weary himself. He settled back into the chair and let sleep claim him once again

The sea hadn't been rough that day when he set out. In fact, the ship he was on was quite nice and the weather perfect for sailing. He was coming from somewhere else, moving with his family to Yokohama. He didn't remember them very well anymore, though. He remembered the storm rolling in suddenly and surprising the men on their ship. He was ushered below deck and told to stay down there and hopefully he would be safe.

He wasn't safe, though. The storm crashed and bashed the ship until it was nothing but a wreckage on the floor of the sea. He sighed as he swam to keep himself above water. What was the point? What was he existing for anyway? He let himself slip below the water, thinking that he would drown in the sea that he had dreamed of as a child.

Then, he was being pulled toward the light, toward the surface of the ocean and pushed onto a board that was large enough to hold him up. He coughed and spit water and wondered just what had happened as he looked around. He swore he saw something moving, but it could have just been the storm moving the water. He was tired, though, and fell asleep on the makeshift raft.

When he woke, it was a clear, bright morning. He sat on the raft and looked around at the still water. There were other floating pieces of the boat and some of the contents. He realized that on his raft, there was a small collection of random objects. He picked through them, finding silverware, a barnacled encrusted compass, a rusted piece of metal, and most importantly, one of the small skins of water that had been stored on the ship. He resisted the urge to open and drink it. He had no idea how long he'd be stuck out to sea, and he wasn't going to waste the water he had. But where had these objects come from?

That night, he found himself falling into another dreamless sleep. He swore as he was going to sleep that he saw something coming toward him in the water. He dozed off before he could see more. He had a dream at some point that he was moving in the water. He woke with a start as the sun rose again. Once more, there were strange items added to the pile of things that had been there before. Now, there was a pocket watch and a belt buckle in the shape of a bird. He picked up the things and wondered how in the world they were getting on the raft with him. Someone or something had to be putting them on there, it was the only explanation.

For another two nights, the same thing was repeated. He was at the end of his water reserve by that time and had given up hope of a painless death. Honestly, he didn't want to drown because he knew you could think up until the very end, and the lungs filling with water was painful. Still, the sun beating down on him as he floated had started to burn his skin and he wasn't sure how much longer he could last.

That was when the ship spotted him. He remembered seeing something out in the water, something blue or green, and at first, he was tempted to swim toward it. He swore it was some sort of creature. Instead, he swam toward the ship that had found him. They threw him a life saver to pull him up onto their ship. He found out they were called the Port Mafia, and their leader was a man named Mori. Captain Mori took him under his wing, then, at the age of fourteen. He would then spend the next four years on that ship until the events that made him leave occurred. He didn't want to think of that, as he came to wakefulness in the dim light of the afternoon.

Could it be that this was the same creature? He looked at Chūya and wondered. That had been eight years ago. Had this been what saved him from a watery grave? Had this been why he survived?

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Kunikida wasn't sure exactly what he was going to say to the captain, but he knew he would most likely listen to him at least. He had to see what he thought of their current predicament. He sighed and made his way past a group of Naval officials asking questions of one of the fish merchants. He tried not to look interested in what they were saying, but he caught a snippet of the conversation.

"…you see anyone that doesn't belong here?" the naval officer was asking.

"No, sir, I haven't seen anything like that," the merchant responded.

"No new people you've never seen?"

"Well, I can't say that, we have ships pull in all the time, so there's always someone I don't know walking about…"

Kunikida lost the conversation but knew this was going to be a problem for them. Getting the merman from Dazai's room to the ship was going to be trouble. He arrived at the Ada and headed up the gangplank to see if the captain had any ideas for what they should do with their Piscean friend. He saw that Kenji had already come back and was cleaning the deck. He looked toward the captain's quarters and went to knock on the door.

"Enter," came the response.

Captain Fukuzawa sat behind his desk looking over some charts of the sea. He wore a green kusodo style shirt in green. He looked up with his eyes lighting on Kunikida's face. He brushed his pale hair over his ear.

"Do you have something for me?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. I have a problem. It involves Dazai…" Kunikida began.

The captain arched a brow and looked at him pointedly. "What kind of problem?"

"Well, it seems that he came into possession of a merman last night…" he started and saw the look he was getting from the captain. "I know. He says he accidentally broke into a warehouse where he was being kept and experimented on by the government. I went by and suggested trying to dry him off and see if he would transform to have legs like I've heard before, and he did."

The captain nodded and Kunikida shifted. "The problem is that the government is looking for him, and to get him back out to sea on the ship, we have to get him from Dazai's room to here without arousing suspicion."

"That is a problem. How close to human does he look?" he asked.

"That's the problem, he still looks the same from the waist up, including the gills on the sides of his neck and his ears don't look human at all. He managed to learn how to walk somewhat but it wasn't something natural to him. I'm not sure how to get him from there to here." Kunikida wasn't sure what the captain thought about the situation because his face was set in a neutral expression like always.

"I don't fear the government officials. No doubt if it came out that they were experimenting on a living creature, they'd lose face in the public eye. I suggest finding a couple of the crew and walking him among a larger group. Perhaps the Atsushi boy and Tanizaki. I would, however, wait until the officials are not looking as intently as they currently are."

Kunikida bowed a little. "Of course," he said. "I'll tell Dazai."

He excused himself and exited the chamber to see that Atsushi had returned to the ship after all. He nodded to himself and approached him. "Hey, brat," he said as he approached him.

"Yes, sir?" he stammered out.

"I have a mission for you. I want you to go to room 7 at the Agency Inn and tell Dazai that we have a plan, but he needs to stay put for a day or so. He'll explain when you get there. You're going to help us save a life," Kunikida said with a grin.

Atsushi just stared at him a minute then nodded and took off to the gangplank to do what he had been asked. Kunikida would find Tanizaki and see about getting him recruited into the plan for walking the creature from the Inn to the Ada.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Dazai woke to someone knocking on the door. He groaned and stood up, going to the door to find it was Atsushi. He guessed he had come back to the boat after all.

"Dazai sir," he said nervously. "Kunikida said to come and tell you to stay put for a day or so. Something like that."

He sighed. Staying put wasn't what he wanted to do, but he would do it for now. "He did, did he?"

Atsushi looked beyond him into the room, no doubt seeing another figure on the bed. "He said you would explain?"

Dazai sighed and motioned Atsushi into the room. "Come in, then. I'll have you meet Chūya."

"Chūya?" Atsushi said as he looked to the sleeping form.

"He's a mermaid. Well, merman I guess is more accurate, but he's got human legs now that he's dried off. We're going to take him on the Ada and help him escape the government that had caught him and was experimenting on him," Dazai explained as Atsushi leaned over the bed and stared at Chūya's very obviously inhuman form.

"As you can see, we have to be careful when we move him because he doesn't look quite human," Dazai pointed out.

Chūya picked that moment to open his eyes and stare up at Atsushi. He sat up and pulled himself to the head of the bed, backpedaling immediately.

"Easy, he's a friend from my ship," Dazai said as he moved over and put a hand on his arm.

"More humans?" Chūya growled and glared at Atsushi. Dazai smiled and patted his arm.

"You'll have to get used to a few of them," he told him as he sat down beside him on the bed. "This is Atsushi."

"Yes, hello," Atsushi stammered out as he stood there watching him.

Chūya snorted and crossed his arms. "Whatever, stupid humans."

"Atsushi, you can go back to the ship and tell Kunikida that I'll wait here for his instructions for what we're going to do," Dazai said and waved at him dismissively.

With a slight bow, Atsushi quickly exited the room to do what he'd been asked. Dazai looked at Chūya again and put a hand back on his arm. Chūya looked at him with wide eyes. Dazai thought he could get lost in those eyes if he wasn't careful. He didn't understand it at all but he had the strangest urge to just hold him in his arms. Perhaps it was knowing that no one had ever held him gently before, but there was something about him that set fire to his mind.

"Well, you humans have to eat, too," Chūya said after a moment. "I need to eat something."

Dazai blinked. Of course, he realized that his own stomach was telling him that they had missed breakfast and lunch with their walking practice. "I'll go out and get something for us. What do you eat?"

Chūya shook his head. "I can eat anything humans eat, I think."

"Alright, I'll go get something for us. What do you usually eat?" Dazai asked, curious now.

"Sea weed, fish, that sort of thing," Chūya said with a shrug.

"Ah, well, we might have to change your palate to something more…palatable." Dazai smiled and headed out the door to find some dinner for both of them.

He returned a little while later to find Chūya walking around the room again on his legs. He smiled to himself as he shut and locked the door behind him, holding two containers of food. "I brought crab," he said proudly as he sat the container on the bed.

"Crab? Okay," Chūya said and came to sit down on the bed. He grabbed the container and looked over the dish. It was crab in a bed of rice with vegetables. "This looks different," he muttered but picked up a piece with his fingers and ate it. He looked at Dazai with a wide-eyed stare.

"Do you like it? Here, here's a fork. I have a couple," Dazai said and handed over the utensil to him.

Chūya stared at it, then watched Dazai for a minute eating. Then he mimicked eating with the fork like Dazai was, carefully spearing the food and eating off of it. Dazai couldn't help but grin at the way he was learning how to do things. After a few failed attempt at picking up the rice, Dazai leaned over and showed him how to scoop it onto the fork and fed him a bite. Chūya looked surprised but took it, then figured out how to do it on his own. He finished his food and watched as Chūya did the same. He saw that Chūya was looking at the door in a wistful manner as he sat on the bed.

"What is it?" Dazai asked after he'd put away the empty containers and the two forks. He might have stolen them from the eatery he'd stopped at to buy their dinner. He figured they'd never miss a couple forks.

Chūya sighed. "I just want to be free to go outside when I want to," he said and turned back to Dazai. "I'm still trapped, though in a different way."

Dazai moved over and sat beside Chūya on the bed. He reached up and ran his hand down the outside of his arm where there were bruises still. "I hope that being trapped with me is far preferable than being trapped where you were."

He had no idea why he was doing it, but he wanted to take things so much further than they had gone so far. It was a driving need to possess this creature for himself, he supposed. He understood now that he must have been the one to save him from drowning when he was fourteen years old. But he couldn't be sure of that with all the memories being as muddled from that time as they were. Still, something about him drew him like a siren draws sailors to their doom. He wondered if it was his doom that he was courting when he did this, and came to the conclusion, he didn't care in the least.

Chūya's face reddened and he leaned away a little. "Um, well yes, it is better," he said finally, turning and looking away from Dazai. Dazai could see his breathing had sped up and he smirked. Perhaps this would be easier than he thought.

"You are very lovely, you know," Dazai murmured as his hand slipped across his back.

Chūya turned toward him and looked up with his gray eyes sparkling in the dim light. "Oh…" he breathed as Dazai leaned closer to him. He didn't lean away though, as Dazai touched his face softly. "Yeah, you seem to be interested in this. Shall I continue?" Dazai whispered, close to his ear now.

"Uh huh," was all Chūya could say as he stared at Dazai with wide eyes.

Dazai leaned up and pressed his lips to Chūya's. They were dry and soft as he flicked his tongue out to gently caress the seam of his lips. Chūya's mouth parted and Dazai took the initiative to slip his tongue against him. He tasted of the crab they'd just eaten, but it didn't bother Dazai. He moved both hands to Chūya's face, gently cradling it as he explored his mouth slowly, languidly. After a few minutes, Dazai pulled back and saw Chūya's face was flushed red and he was panting slightly. He smiled at him, caressing the side of his face with a gentle hand.

"You've never done this," Dazai observed as Chūya looked at him.

"Of course not, stupid Mackerel," he snapped, crossing his arms angrily. "When would I have done anything like this, especially with a dumb human?"

Dazai smirked, using his fingers to turn him to face him once again before he leaned in and kissed him again. This time, Chūya responded, pushing back against his tongue and taking his own time to explore Dazai's mouth. He leaned in, bringing his body closer to Dazai's, almost hungrily devouring him. Dazai let him continue until need for breath forced him to pull away. He slid one hand down Chūya's back and into the back of the loose pants he wore and squeezed him slightly.

"Ah, I don't know how I'm feeling," Chūya panted, squirming as Dazai's hand rested on him.

"Feeling good, I hope," Dazai breathed as he leaned in and began to lick at the gills that were on the side of his neck.

"Ooh," Chūya gasped out as Dazai kissed and sucked along his neck, finding that obviously his gills were sensitive.

Dazai grabbed him suddenly at the hips and spun him into straddling his lap. Chūya seemed a little shocked that he could be moved so easily, but Dazai had carried him already. He felt Chūya's hands start to explore his stomach and chest under his shirt. He reached down and pulled Chūya's shirt up and over his head. Chūya gasped as the white shirt came off and his fingers went to the buttons on Dazai's shirt, fumbling with them.

"Here," Dazai breathed and quickly unbuttoned the white shirt he wore and slipped it off his shoulders. Underneath, his arms were wrapped in bandages and around his neck to under his arms. They were still tightly wrapped and secure.

Chūya ran fingers over the white bandages that were wrapped around his neck and arms. He stroked his fingers under the edges against his already warm skin. Dazai slid both hands around and cradled Chūya against him and could feel that he was indeed as into the moment as he himself was. He smirked and slipped a hand down the front of him. Chūya gasped and looked down at what he was doing.

"Have you ever done anything like this?" Dazai asked as he stroked him a few times.

"Nuh uh," he said as he writhed against Dazai's hand. "It feels different but good…" he moaned out.

"Hmm, then we have to keep going, don't we?" Dazai said as he slid his hand out of the pants and untied them before he slid them down off his hips. "Stand up," he instructed and Chūya did as he told him, the pants slipping down to the floor. Dazai smirked and reached for him again, stroking him as Chūya watched, seemingly entranced by what his own body was doing. It was obviously the first time he'd experienced this sort of thing, and for some reason that excited Dazai even more. He smirked at him and gripped him by the hips again and steered him to sit back down on the bed.

Dazai slid up between Chūya's legs, pushing the apart as he moved. Chūya just watched him, eyes wide and breath bated. Dazai crawled up and put his hands to either side of Chūya's head as he dove down to engage him in another kiss. He took one hand and began to stroke him slowly as he continued to kiss him soundly. He broke the kiss and found his hand to be covered in the slippery liquid. He slipped his hand down to press gently at Chūya's entrance. He gasped and sat up a little.

"What are you doing?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Something you'll like, just give it a minute," Dazai said with a deep exhale as he slipped a finger into him.

Chūya frowned but didn't move. "It feels weird…"

"Shh, just give me a minute to make it feel really good," Dazai promised, sliding a second finger into him and twisting his hand to reach what he was looking for… There, he thought as he felt the spongy spot and began to stroke his fingers over it until Chūya was writhing back on his hand and insensible.

"Fuck!" Chūya exclaimed as he grabbed his own hair and began to tense up.

"Oh, don't get too far ahead," Dazai muttered and pulled his fingers away, leaving Chūya panting and glaring at him.

"Wh-why'd ya stop?" he said, and his frustration was obvious.

"Because I want us both to feel good, with something even better," Dazai said as he loosened his own pants, pulling himself free and stroking himself as he stared at the writhing body below him.

Dazai positioned himself and began to press forward into him slowly. Chūya gasped and started to tense his body again. "Hush, relax," Dazai whispered, stroking his flagging erection back to full again.

"It…it kind of hurts…" Chūya whined, but only grabbed onto Dazai's arms.

"Give it a minute," Dazai whispered and slid forward again, stroking him as he moved. Chūya arched up for a second and Dazai knew he'd brushed against his sweet spot.

"I don't know if I can do this," Chūya gasped as his legs flexed around Dazai's. "I feel strange…"

Dazai smirked as he slid back and thrust forward again, this time pushing all the way in in one stroke. The sound Chūya made was inhuman as he arched his back again, fingernails digging into Dazai's upper arms. He was vaguely glad that he'd left his wrappings on him. He knew he wasn't going to last long as tight as Chūya's body was around him. He pushed Chūya's legs back more, allowing him a good angle and view as he plunged into his body. Again, Chūya's hands were tangled in his own hair and he was making a keening sound in his throat. Vaguely, Dazai hoped he wasn't too loud because the walls here were thin.

Finally, knowing that he was at his own limit, he began to stroke Chūya in time with his thrusts. Chūya gasped out and let out another inhuman sound that was luckily low pitched as he came, spilling on Dazai's hand. Dazai dropped his hands to the bed beside him and thrust a few more times, feeling Chūya tighten around him until it was maddening. He thrust in hard one last time and fell over the crest he was riding. He panted and stayed still for a few moments until he pulled back and fell to the bed beside Chūya.

"Human ways are strange," Chūya whispered, turning to stare at Dazai.

Dazai smiled, leaning over to capture his lips in another kiss. "Yes, yes they are."


	3. Chapter 3

Akutagawa was curious as to what everyone was abuzz about. The Navy was looking for something or someone that had been stolen from them. He frowned as he sipped a dark ale in one of the taverns surrounding the Port of Yokohama. The day was still early but he was in a dark mood already. Granted, dark moods and him were partners most the time.

He looked back to the docks where the Port Mafia was docked. They were privateers that worked for the Navy in a way, but really, they didn't do a lot for them. They harassed ships that shouldn't be in the area, and lately, they'd been looking for anything "unusual" in the sea. He frowned and wondered if the Navy had gotten their hands on the unusual thing they were looking for. He sighed and got up, draining the last of his drink before he turned and headed back down to the docks. He stopped as he got near and saw the Ada was in dock as well.

Even though it had been four years, he still hated that his one-time mentor was now on that ship. He'd been devastated when he left the Port Mafia and disappeared. He wouldn't show it to anyone, though, how betrayed he felt. Now, instead, he expressed hatred toward his past mentor. He did hate him, of course. He hated that he had never been good enough for him, and he hated that he had never been able to show his worthiness to him more than anything. But now he was one of the leaders on the ship, and he was respected as one of the bloodiest of their number. He reveled in killing and had no qualms about doing it. He had learned under one of the bloodiest ever to serve on the Port Mafia, his mentor, Dazai.

He snarled and headed up the gangplank to the Port Mafia, trying desperately to ignore the other ship. Now that he knew it was there, though, he could only see it. He growled under his breath and when Higuchi asked him what the problem was, he lashed out and slapped her. He wasn't in the mood to discuss it with his own underlings. Because now he wasn't an underling anymore, he was the one that had underlings. He was too focused on his own thoughts, though, and nearly ran into Tachihara Michizō.

"Whoa, Akutagawa, watch where you're going," he said and frowned at him.

"Fuck off," he said and continued down to the interior of the ship.

He was definitely not in the mood to deal with Michizō at the moment. He found his way to his own quarters and fell into his cot. He was focused on the fact that Dazai was here at the same time he was and he wanted to do something about it. He quickly found that he couldn't rest there and got up again. He headed up to see what the captain, a man named Mori, was doing. He found his way to the captain's cabin and knocked on the door.

"Enter," he said and looked up as Akutagawa opened the door.

"Captain, I was wondering if you heard the rumors that the Navy is looking for a creature that was stolen from them," Akutagawa said and saw the picture of Mori's daughter, Elise, sitting on the desk. He often wondered how he stood being away from his child for such long periods at a time. She lived here with a governess that took care of her most the time.

"I have, did you uncover anything about it that I should know?" he said to him as he put down his pen.

Akutagawa sighed and gave him a sour look. "The Ada is in dock and I bet they have something to do with it."

"The Ada?" Mori said with an arched brow. "That is interesting. Well, as a part of the Navy, we should help them, don't you think?" Mori gave him a sly smile.

"I think so. I'll go back to the docks and see if I can locate where they're staying in the town. Would they be so stupid as to steal something from the Navy?"

"Dazai is with them now," Mori mused, looking at him narrowly. "He wouldn't care if the Navy was involved if it as something that he wanted. Investigate. Take Hirotsu and send him to check in the with the Naval commander. Find out what exactly they stole and why it is so important to the them to find."

Akutagawa nodded, a little annoyed at having to bring Hirotsu into this little investigation that he had begun. He quickly found the older man that often acted as a go-between for Mori and the Naval Commander.

"Captain wants you to go to the Naval Commander and find out what has the Navy in an uproar lately and see what they need done," Akutagawa said without a trace of emotion.

Hirotsu snorted and nodded to him. "Very well," he said stiffly and headed out to go follow the orders.

Akutagawa decided to continue his own investigation and headed out.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Chūya woke up with a start and whined. He hurt in less than mentionable places. He felt someone move beside him and he remembered suddenly what had happened last night after they'd eaten. He'd done something with this human that he had only seen other animals do under the sea.

He looked at the human and wondered, were they now mates? In the sea, some creatures mated together for life. Some didn't. He tilted his head to the side and looked at this strange human creature that he had found himself with. He reached out and gently brushed dark strands of hair out of his face and looked upon him in his sleep. The bandages he kept wrapped around his neck were coming a bit looser than they had been the night before, and he slid one finger underneath to feel ridged skin there. Scars? He pulled his hand back and realized that he had no idea where to go from here.

"Morning," Dazai said suddenly surprising Chūya into jerking nearly off the bed.

"M-Morning," Chūya parroted back. He supposed that was customary greeting afterward?

Dazai sat up, stretching his arms over his head and smiled at him. Once more, Chūya felt his face heat up in that funny way. "You look bothered by something?" Dazai asked, his face contorting into concern.

"I just…I don't know what to do after what we did."

Dazai reached out and used one hand to cup his face gently. "Well, I would hope that you'd be inclined to do that again. You seemed to enjoy yourself quite a lot…"

Chūya's face burned actively now as he swallowed down a ball in his throat. "Sh-shut up! Fucking human Dazai!" he said and got up to go in the bathroom.

He leaned over the sink, still wobbly on two legs. He glared at himself in the mirror and realized how _not_ human he looked. He swallowed hard again and thought, _What would a human like Dazai want with a mate like me?_ That thought crashed into him and he couldn't stop thinking about it. It was all that was in his mind. He wasn't human. In fact, he didn't know how he was supposed to live among humans. He reached up and touched his frilled ears, and the gills that were now still on his neck. He glanced at the webbing between his fingers. How could he thin that a human would want such a thing as him as a mate.

"Chūya," came Dazai's voice from outside the bathroom. "Please come out."

He did and didn't want to see him again. He wanted to be held again. But he was mad about that fact. Still, he didn't want to deny his own strange feelings of desire for the human who had saved him. He opened the door and looked up into his dark eyes and found himself lost within their depths once more. Why did this have to happen and make his simple, free life so very complicated?

"What?" he snapped, trying to look angry. He wasn't going to show softness to this human even after what they did.

Dazai gave him a crooked smile and reached for his hand. Without thinking better of it, Chūya took the hand he offered and was led back to sit upon the bed once more. He looked down at where their hands were connected and wondered, was this the connection he was missing before? What if he threw him back to the sea and forgot all about him again? He could do that, this human. He had a life above the waves without Chūya.

"You seem to fret on something," Dazai said, carefully interlacing his fingers with Chūya's webbed hand.

"A-are we mates now?" he asked finally, not looking up at him at all because he couldn't.

"Mates?" Dazai asked, at first sounding a bit confused. Dazai reached out and used his finger to tip Chūya's head upward to look him in the eyes. "Do you want us to be mates?"

"Well, it's just that after what we did, isn't that what happens?" Chūya finally asked.

"In the human world, you can do those things without becoming mates," he said and Chūya's stomach dropped. Did that mean he didn't desire to be mates with him?

"Who-who would want to be mates with you!" Chūya said with a frown, trying to look away, but Dazai caught his face and turned him back.

Before he could move away, Dazai leaned in to kiss him, and once again, Chūya was trapped by this human. He leaned up into it, giving him access to his mouth and returning the passionate kiss that ensued in a soul encompassing sensation. He couldn't get enough of the sensations of being touched and held by someone, and he wondered if it was just this human or if any human would give him the same reaction. He doubted it. He remembered this human from many years ago, and there was something special about him then as there was now.

"If you'll have me as your mate, that's a name I'll gladly take," Dazai whispered against his lips, licking the seam until he was ravaging his mouth once more.

The knock on the door broke their moment and Dazai turned and looked at it as though it had personally chosen to offend him by being knocked upon. He huffed a sigh and stood up, pulling his pants on as he went. He opened it to find the other human, the one with blond hair, standing there. He came in and looked between them both.

"The Navy is starting to search ships. You'll have to stay put until they've searched the Ada. And I think that the Port Mafia is looking into it as well."

"Well, that is a nuisance." Dazai turned back and smiled at him. "Looks like we'll be stuck here a bit longer."

Chūya flushed red, getting a curious look from Kunikida. He didn't say anything, though, just turned and left again.

"Now, where were we?" Dazai said as he came back over to the bed and brought his lips close to Chūya again.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Fukuzawa stood with his arms tucked into his sleeves as the naval men went about his ship. He was slightly annoyed at the interruption.

"You will find nothing on board the Ada that belongs to the Navy at all," he stated as the men ignored him and continued looking.

They had boarded the ship looking for "stolen property" and enacted their ability to search the ship at that time. Fukuzawa had to let them because to deny them was a punishable offense. They had gone over every inch of the ship and found absolutely nothing out of place and nothing untoward. There was nothing to be found upon the Ada of course. He stared down at the dock and saw one of Port Mafia's men, Akutagawa, watching as the Naval men went over the ship. So they were curious as to what the Navy was searching for and obviously they thought the Ada contained it. They were wrong, of course.

"Alright, men," the commander said as he came out of the captain's room. "Nothing here either."

"I told you as much," Fukuzawa said with an annoyed sigh.

"Have to check all the ships in the docks," the commander said and turned to take his men off the ship.

Below, on the dock, Akutagawa swirled his coat and walked away, apparently having been satisfied that there was nothing of interest on the Ada after all.

"Sir, how are we going to get that creature onto the boat with them looking so hard for him?" Atsushi asked quietly from beside him.

Fukuzawa sighed, shaking his head. "It will be more difficult than ever with the Port Mafia's eyes on us as well."

He turned and disappeared back into his cabin, leaving Atsushi to watch after the retreating Naval men. He nearly jumped when he heard someone at his elbow and looked to see Kenji standing there.

"You are worried," Kenji said with his usual smile. His hat hung behind his head on his back by the string at his throat.

"Yeah, that creature, the mermaid. How alone he must have been for so long out there in the sea, and now people have found him and wish to study and experiment on him. How would anyone cope with something like that easily?" Atsushi said with a sigh as he leaned over the side of the ship.

Kenji patted him on the back. "The captain will figure out how to help him. Don't worry, there will be a happy ending to the story."

Atsushi wished he had Kenji's optimism. He leaned over the edge and watched as the black clad man from the Port Mafia ship walked by yet again. He got a strange sensation from him, almost a murderous intent that he exuded. He shook it away and saw Kunikida coming back to the ship again. He had gone to tell Dazai that they would have to wait even longer because of the ships being searched by the Navy.

Kunikida walked up the gangplank with a sour look on his face and Atsushi wondered what that could be about. He didn't know for sure, but he thought the other man was having a hard time being the go-between like this. He disappeared into the captain's cabin quickly, leaving Atsushi to wonder what exactly was happening now. Instead of dwelling on it, Atsushi went about his duties and forgot about what was going on for a little while. They were a day late leaving already, and now they were even further behind waiting on the creature to be brought to the ship.

Kunikida emerged from the captain's cabin with a neutral look to his face now, so apparently whatever had bothered him had been alleviated by the captain. He wandered over by where Atsushi was standing, swabbing the deck with a mop.

"That damn Dazai is always getting us into things," Kunikida said as he leaned over the side of the ship. "Of all the things to get us caught up in!"

"It was very kind of him to rescue that poor creature. No doubt he was being tormented by those that had him," Atsushi said as he mopped around Kunikida's feet.

"Kind? I don't know what his angle is, but him doing something out of kindness just doesn't sound right. I don't know why he did what he did but now we have to deal with it. I can't leave that poor creature to suffer at the hands of the Navy, that is for certain." Kunikida turned and leaned with his back to the side of the boat, now looking at Atsushi. "What do you think of all this, lad?"

Atsushi shrugged. "I think that it is good to help others, especially those that are suffering."

Kunikida sighed and nodded. "Well, we're going to have to try and get him to the boat tonight," he said with a glance out at the dock. The Navy men had gone to the next boat over. "I'll go find some clothes that we can disguise him with," Kunikida said and pushed off the side to go below deck and do just that.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Dazai sat beside the once more sleeping merman. He was completely exhausted after Dazai was done with him the second time. Or it might have been third and fourth that did the poor creature in. He couldn't get his mind off the supple body of _his_ merman. That was the way he saw him already, and he would remain the sole person to possess him, not the Navy or anyone else. He jumped slightly at the knock on the door again.

He got up and found it as Kunikida with an armload of clothing. "We thought something in this might better disguise him."

Dazai nodded and let him into the room. Kunikida glared at the passed out merman and had a pretty good idea what had tired him out so fast. He shook his head and dropped the pile of clothes which included a hat on the foot of the bed.

"A hat?" Dazai said, picking it up. "That might disguise his ears well enough to walk him to the ship."

"That's what we were thinking," Kunikida said and crossed his arms. "Dazai, you don't want to let him go, do you?"

Dazai looked at Kunikida innocently. "Why would you say such a thing? He wants to go back to the sea."

"Does he now?" Kunikida asked with a narrowed glance. "You found yourself someone that captured your interest for the first time. And now you don't know how to handle it."

"Like you're one to ask about that, with your 'ideal' woman that can never exist!" Dazai reminded him.

Kunikida sighed and shook his head. "You are the one to get entangled, not me," he said and left the room again, leaving Dazai alone with his merman and his thoughts.

Was Kunikida right? Was he in the position that he didn't know how to handle these emotions he was feeling? This was much more than just the desire to possess. That was there as well, but there was a part of him that would let Chūya go, should he want to be let go. Because whatever would make him happy would be what he did for him.

He looked over in surprise as he heard Chūya mumble in his sleep. He couldn't understand the words, but he was dreaming of something. He sat down beside him and ran a hand through the red locks upon his head and realized how much he wanted him to stay with them. He would offer to keep him safe on the Ada if he wanted to stay. The captain wouldn't argue. He would allow someone like Chūya the benefit of the doubt to become one of the crew. Once he was one of them, he could swim as he chose and walk as he chose. And Dazai wouldn't have to say goodbye.

Chūya sat up suddenly, gasping for air. Dazai turned and put an arm around him in concern.

"Oh, I'm on land," he said, panting as whatever dream had gripped him seemed to leave his mind.

"Yes, you are," Dazai confirmed. "And we have some other clothes to try on you and see about getting you to the ship once the night comes."

Chūya looked at the pile of clothing and reached for the hat. He put it on his head and looked at Dazai. Immediately, Dazai felt a flush. He was adorable with the hat on. It did cover the tops of his ears to hide them. He stood up and started going through the pile of clothes, finding a pair of pants and a coat. Dazai helped him dress again, and once he was dressed, he was impressed. Unless someone came up right close to him, they would think he was just another human.

"You look wonderful!" Dazai said and hugged him suddenly.

Chūya flushed red in the face but hugged him back. "So, I'll be able to go home."

Dazai held onto Chūya without looking at him for a few more seconds before he let go. "Do you want to go home?"

"Of course!" he snapped but there was a confused look on his face.

"I like having you around. Do you like having me around?" Dazai asked now.

Chūya swallowed and turned away from him. "I don't know, stupid human."

"Will you stay on the ship?" Dazai tried not to look like he cared so much about the answer, but he couldn't help his betraying face.

"Can I?" Chūya said, looking up suddenly.

"I'm sure we can figure out how to keep you safe on the Ada. I have to ask the captain, but I don't see him saying no to allowing you to stay." Dazai knew that Fukuzawa would keep him safe.

"What about the Navy that had me?" Chūya asked him.

"They will still look for you, I'm sure, but we can hide you from them. They rarely come on board the ship and you can hide in the sea if they did," he told him with a smile.

"I don't know," Chūya frowned and sat down on the bed with a groan.

"Are you okay?" Dazai asked as he came closer.

"No, stupid human Dazai!" he growled and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sore and it's your fault!"

Dazai smirked and patted him on the shoulder. "Well, you weren't complaining during."

Chūya licked his lips and stared at Dazai. "I don't want to be alone again," he whispered suddenly.

"You spent your life alone, and it had to be hard," Dazai confirmed and sat down beside him, putting his arm around his shoulders. "If you stay on the Ada, you won't be alone because I'll be there."

"You would want to be there for me?" Chūya asked with a glance at him from under the brim of the hat.

"I would like to stay near you," Dazai told him as he squeezed his shoulders. "I don't share very well, and you would be my only one."

"As mates?" Chūya asked again, curious at how serious he was. "Mates are for a lifetime."

Dazai thought about the significance that Chūya was placing on the term mate and knew he had to take it seriously or he would harm their relationship.

"As mates." Dazai knew he was making a promise to him that was more than just a single day and night of fun. He took that very seriously.

Chūya nodded and entwined his fingers with Dazai's as far as they would go because of the webbing that was between them. Dazai thought they were lovely hands. In fact, his merman was quite lovely all over, he thought. He smiled suddenly, the thought of living on the Ada with him was attractive and being able to see him swim freely when he wanted to do so.

So, they sat like that until darkness fell outside. Dazai had gone and retrieved food for them both again, and they ate it in silence while they awaited the night to come. Chūya was dozing off when there was a knock at the door again. Dazai got up while Chūya sat up on the bed again, hat having gone crooked as he laid down.

"We're ready," Kunikida said with a nod. "The Navy searchers have gone for the night, and there is barely anyone out tonight."

Dazai took Chūya by the hand and nodded to him. "Let's go and see if we can't get you to the sea, or at least to the boat."

"Are you sure this will work?" he asked, pulling the hat down over his ears and straightening the coat over his shoulders.

"It will," Dazai said as he held tightly to his hand and led him outside for the first time.

Chūya hesitated but walked with him, keeping up with the slow pace that Dazai had set for him. Dazai knew he couldn't move too fast because Chūya wasn't used to walking that much. As they came closer to the docks, Kunikida started looking around. Dazai felt Chūya's hand pulling on him some as he began to tire quickly of the walking.

"Just a little further," Dazai promised because he could see the Ada now.

"I think we've got a tail," Kunikida said tightly as they stepped onto the dock.

"We are almost there," Dazai said quickening his pace, nearly dragging Chūya with him as the ship loomed ahead of him.

"Interesting that you have a new crewman all of a sudden," a voice ahead of them said as Dazai watched a man step from the shadows. "Curious, considering the Navy is looking for a creature that I hear is of the sea."

"Akutagawa," Dazai said with a sigh. "You."


	4. Chapter 4

"This doesn't concern you or the Port Mafia," Dazai said as he pulled Chūya closer to him.

"It concerns the Navy, and we do work for them, remember?" Akutagawa said with a frown. "But what is this _thing_ supposed to be?"

Dazai felt Chūya's smaller body tremble a little under his hands. "His name is Chūya, and he's a new crewmember of the Ada," Dazai tried to sound strong as he spoke. He couldn't show Akutagawa how rattled his appearance had made him.

"Why should I believe that line? He's obviously something other than human. That hat does nothing to disguise his abnormal features. What is he?" Akutagawa stood with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at them. There was no one around other than him.

"You came here alone, so this is to satisfy your own curiosity," Kunikida said as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Perhaps." Akutagawa turned and coughed into his hand for a moment. He then looked back at them. "Perhaps this is the first of many people to come."

Dazai shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't think you trust the Navy either and that's why you're here. You want to know what they're hiding just as much as we did." Dazai didn't know how to convince Akutagawa that this was something that he should leave alone.

"What do you plan to do with him?" Akutagawa asked, shifting where he stood.

"I plan to let him do what he wants rather than being kept in a giant fish tank," Dazai said with a sigh. There was no reason to lie to Akutagawa. He was, if nothing else, not a liar. At least about this.

"Please. You, doing something that magnanimous without getting something out of it?" Akutagawa snarled at him, resting a hand on the saber at his side.

Dazai smiled at him. "You've never once beat me one on one, it won't change now. So, pull your saber if you wish, just know I won't go easy on you like I usually do."

Akutagawa snorted and shook his head. "Why waste my time on such a trivial matter," he moved his hand away from the saber. "Take your _thing_ and get on your ship with it."

Dazai didn't waste time, he moved past him toward the gangplank, shuffling Chūya along with him. Kunikida walked watching behind them, still wary of Akutagawa and wondering if he had been alone. Once all three were on board, they went to the captain's quarters to introduce him to their new friend and hopefully crewman.

"Enter," Fukuzawa yelled out when Dazai knocked on the door.

"I've brought him to the boat," Dazai told him as he pulled Chūya into the room. He looked up at Fukuzawa from under the brim of the hat he wore.

"I see that. What is it that we are going to do with him?" the captain wondered out loud as he stared at him.

"Well, we can't take off in the middle of the night; that would be suspect to the Navy," Dazai observed. "So, we should set off in the morning like we planned."

"Wouldn't it be easier to let him swim off from here now?" Kunikida pointed out.

Dazai tightened his grip on Chūya's shoulder. "But he's decided to be a crew member, haven't you?"

Chūya looked up at him with those gray eyes and he felt his heart do a little bit of a flip in his chest. "I want to stay with Dazai," he said, a light blush rising to his cheeks.

The captain sighed and shook his head. "Always making things difficult for me, Dazai. Tell me, what can you offer the crew?" he asked.

Chūya looked up at him and swallowed nervously. "I can help find good fishing spots and can also help when you need to explore under the water. I am fast and capable. I am learning how to use my legs, and I think I can do a lot to help the ship."

Fukuzawa sighed again. "Alright. We'll just have to be more careful when we put in to port from now on. When here, he stays on the ship or out in the deep water, that way the Navy won't get wind of him being anywhere near where they were looking. The disguise is good, though. With the hat, from a distance, he looks human enough. Up close, though, he's easy to pick out as different."

"We just have to keep Navy away from him," Dazai pointed out as he squeezed Chūya's shoulders again.

"Very well, take him down below for tonight. You can share your room with him, can't you, Dazai?" the captain inquired as he looked at the pair.

"Of course!" Dazai said as he smiled at him.

Dazai then led him down below deck and to him room. He was lucky and had one to himself. He smiled at him as soon as the got into the room and closed the door.

"That was exciting," Dazai said and turned him enough that he could slam Chūya's back into the door, leaning forward and kissing him deeply.

"Yes," Chūya huffed. "What are you doing, dumb human?" he muttered.

"I told you, that was exciting," Dazai said again, sliding a hand down and squeezing the front of Chūya's pants. "And you seem to be excited too."

"Here?" Chūya asked, eyes widening a little.

"Hmm, here," he said as he leaned forward and began licking at the gills on his neck.

"St-stupid human Dazai!" Chūya said with a growl, but he was already melting to the touches he was receiving.

Dazai puled off the hat first and ran his hand over Chūya's red hair. He hummed as he laid kisses on his collarbone, pausing to leave a mark on him. He would claim him for everyone to see as well. There was only one person to which Chūya belonged to now, and that was him. He carefully leaned back and began unbuttoning the white shirt he was wearing. Chūya's gray eyes were blown wide, and he was starting to pant. It seemed that Dazai had turned his merman into a little bit of a fiend. He untied the pants string and pushed the linen material off his hips.

"Are you sure?" Chūya breathed out as Dazai reached down to grip him.

"Are you sure, you're already like this…" Dazai murmured against his neck.

"But won't they hear?" Chūya gasped, wriggling under Dazai's touches.

"Be quiet, if you can," Dazai told him as he began to stroke him firmly for a moment.

Dazai's hands reached up and gripped Chūya's face and pressed his lips to him. Chūya breathed out and felt his hands slide down his back and grip him on the ass. Dazai reached down and grabbed one of his legs and pulled it up. He then slid his hand underneath, finding his way to his entrance and pressed two fingers into him at once. Chūya arched a little and gasped out.

"You're already used to it," Dazai whispered against his skin.

He whimpered as he ground down on Dazai's hand. He pressed his fingers deeper until he heard Chūya make a choked sound. He was impatient though. Running into Akutagawa had flared up his protective streak he didn't realize he had and now he intended to claim his merman. He sucked at his throat, finding that he, like humans, had an Adam's apple. He pulled his fingers out and dropped his leg back down to the floor. Chūya stared at him, eyes unfocused as he struggled to stay on his feet. Dazai was going to try something different this time…

He picked Chūya up suddenly, pulling his legs around his waist and freeing himself from his own pants. He pressed his back into the door and positioned him to drop down on him in one move. Chūya slid down and gasped out against his shoulder. Dazai felt his teeth scrape against his cloth covered skin. He was whimpering in a little discomfort, but that would soon fade, Dazai knew. He let gravity help pull him down while he thrust up into him.

Chūya's head fell back against the wall and he gasped out as their bodies rubbed together, his own harness trapped between them. Dazai could feel the wetness soaking into his shirt from him leaking so profusely.

"Ah, you seemed to have decided you like this part," Dazai muttered, slamming upward into him, causing him to release a choked cry. "You better be quiet, or everyone is going to know what you're doing right now."

Chūya's hands clutched spasmodically at Dazai's shoulders as he pressed backward into the door. He bit down on his bottom lip and whined low in his throat. Dazai nearly was set of by that alone as he growled and kept up with the pace that had Chūya releasing such luscious little sounds in his attempt to keep quiet.

The strain of the position was starting to get to him, Dazai knew. He couldn't hold him like this forever, so he needed to finish this or drop to the floor. Honestly, he didn't want to lay down on the floor, so he angled himself until he struck upward into Chūya's sweet spot hard and made him nearly come on the spot. He couldn't move his arms where they were locked holding him up under his ass, so he leaned forward to cause more friction against Chūya's leaking arousal. He gasped out and pulled Dazai closer to him, wrapping both arms around his neck and whining into his shoulder again. Dazai felt him clench as he came, and he gasped himself because he was close enough that it was just a second before he felt himself going over the edge as well.

Panting, Dazai moved and dropped Chūya's legs down to the floor. Chūya's legs wouldn't hold him, so he just crumpled into a heap right there where he'd been pinned to the wall. Dazai leaned close and captured Chūya's lips in another kiss, taking his time and exploring the merman's mouth fully. He leaned back, leaving Chūya panting and staring at him.

"I don't want you to leave me," Dazai said with a suddenly sad expression. "I want you to stay on the boat with me. We'll manage it, somehow. We'll figure out ways to keep you safe. I don't want to let you go."

Chūya searched his face as though looking for any sign of falsehood. He seemed to find none, or none that he would have understood. "You are my mate, now. I cannot leave you."

Dazai smiled, cupping his face gently. "That's good, because I want to spend more time with you more and more."

Blushing, Chūya turned into Dazai's touch and hummed. "I wonder if the world will be okay with me in it."

"The world is better with you in it," Dazai confirmed, leaning in and kissing him again, this time a soft, chaste thing. "I'm better with you in my world."

"But the Navy, they'll always be after me, won't that put your ship in danger?" Chūya asked with a frown lining his face.

"Don't worry, we'll figure ways around that, and you can always swim in the ocean if you need to get away from the boat for a while. Swim out deeper than they can go, and you would be able to elude them. You only got caught because you came to the shallows, right?" Dazai tucked stray hair out of his face behind his ear.

"Yeah, I was curious about the humans and the Dry World. But after I was caught I don't think I want to be a part of the Dry World again," he said with a shake of his head. "Too many bad things there to cause me problems."

Dazai grinned at him. "You can be free on the sea with us," he told him, then leaned forward and embraced him in a tight hug. "Here, let's get you dressed again, and I need a clean shirt…"

A few minutes later, both of them stood dressed. It was time for sleep, though, so Dazai strung another hammock for Chūya to sleep in and then climbed into his own. Chūya managed after a little struggle to get into the moving bed and was asleep before Dazai. Dazai laid there and stared at the ceiling and wondered just what they were getting into with this. He was likely going to be pursued no matter where he went. There was just no two ways about that. It was inevitable. At least if he were on the Ada, then he could be safe some of the time. And Dazai really didn't want to give him up.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Chūya groaned when he felt the world sway around him. He liked the hammock thing that Dazai put up for him to sleep in. It seemed to be good and moved with the ship when it was tossed with the waves. It reminded him of sleeping under water. He blinked his gray eyes and came awake fully. He glanced over at the next hammock and saw Dazai was still sleeping.

Was this really okay? Finding a mate that was not from the sea?

He knew that there was a way to do things that was right and a way that was wrong, but he had to wonder if he was doing things the right way. How it would play out was something that he didn't know, and he didn't know what to make of what Dazai had said. Stay on the ship? How could he do that?

He rolled and tried to get out of the hammock, only to find that getting out of the thing wasn't as easy as getting in. He grunted as he flipped the stupid thing and fell to the floor with a thump.

"You okay?" he heard as he sat down under the hammock. He looked up to see Dazai looking at him.

"I'm fine, stupid human," he growled and rubbed his back where he'd fallen onto the floor.

"We should go talk to the captain about setting out to sea with you," Dazai said as he effortlessly climbed out of the hammock.

Chūya glared at him and wondered how long it would take for him to be able to do that. "I would like to do that."

Dazai extended a hand toward him and helped him to stand up. He felt a rush of heat to his cheeks and ducked his head to hide it from Dazai. He started when he felt Dazai take his hand and tug him toward the door. He followed, going up on the deck and into the bright sunshine of the day.

"Well, about time you got up," Kunikida said as he stood looking at his book. "The morning is half gone and we've already set out for the deeps."

"It was an exhausting day yesterday," Dazai said with a grin, but he hadn't let go of Chūya's hand. "I've gotta talk to the captain," he said and pulled Chūya to the cabin.

"Enter," came the response when Dazai knocked upon the door.

Dazai opened the door and went into the captain's cabin and nodded to him. "I've brought Chūya up for his tasks today."

Fukuzawa looked at him. "What are the things you can offer us?"

"He can be useful by telling us where fish are and aiding us in finding sunken treasure and more on the ocean floor." Dazai smirked and pulled him forward more.

"Well, we can certainly use that kind of help," Captain Fukuzawa said and nodded.

"You can stay with Dazai, I assume?" he asked, staring at Dazai this time.

"My room is big enough for both of us," he explained.

"Very well, tell the others that he's going to be staying on board, so they know." He went back to looking over the charts in front of him.

Dazai bowed slightly and then pulled Chūya behind him as he left the cabin. He clapped loudly, getting everyone's attention on the ship.

"Attention! I'd like to announce that Chūya here is our new crewman!"

Chūya felt his cheeks heat at everyone turning to stare at him now. He pushed the hat on his head a little tighter. He swallowed a ball of nervousness and tried to look around at all the people on the ship he did and didn't know yet. He saw the one with the silver hair from before. He forgot his name. He wasn't sure what he thought about everyone, but he would try to get along, since his mate desired it.

"Welcome aboard, Chūya," Kunikida said with a sigh. "Now, will you be able to work or be lazy like Dazai is the question?"

"He'll pull his weight," Dazai confirmed, looking at Kunikida with a glare under his hooded eyes.

"I can help with fishing," Chūya blurted, feeling like he needed to say something to them. "And with finding things on the ocean floor."

Kunikida nodded. "Yes, that would be helpful, I suppose," he muttered and turned back to flipping pages in his book.

"We're not far from the shore yet, so it isn't safe for you to go out into the sea just yet," Dazai said as he looked toward the port they were sailing away from.

Chūya leaned against the side of the Ada and looked out into the ocean.

"I never thought I'd leave the sea," he said with a long look at the waves below him.

"Well, it wasn't like you left it on purpose," Dazai told him, leaning beside him.

"But what was there for me in the sea? I was alone, but there are more like me out there somewhere…" he whispered and sighed deeply.

Dazai put an arm around him and squeezed. "We can look for more people like you."

Chūya nodded. What would happen when he met more people like him? Would they want him to leave his mate? He couldn't imagine leaving Dazai already. They were mated now and there was nothing that could break that bond. He had no idea how he knew this, but it was somehow ingrained into his very being. Somehow, he was sure that the fact they had been together was going to lead to something unexpected. He supposed that he should know more about himself, but he'd never been around anyone of his own kind to know more than those soul deep knowledges.

"What would I say to them? Others like me?" Chūya asked, looking wistfully across the waves.

"You would say whatever you wanted. You are free to do as you want with your life now. It is your own and you can do what you want. Staying, going, whatever it is you decide to do." Dazai still had his arm around Chūya and stared out into the sea with him.

Chūya tilted his head toward Dazai and sighed. "I don't care if I ever see another creature like me. I have you, don't I?" he asked, looking up at Dazai with damp eyes.

Dazai smiled, a genuine smile, and nodded to him. "You have me."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

After a couple weeks at sea, they deemed it safe enough for Chūya to swim again. He stood excitedly on the deck, waiting impatiently for Dazai. He wanted to show him the sea, or at least a little of it. Dazai came out of the captain's quarters and smiled at him.

"We have the go ahead. As long as we stay near the boat," Dazai said as he stripped off his shirt.

Chūya stripped down without a second thought, tossing his clothes on the deck in a hurried mess. Dazai sighed and shook his head as everyone else averted their eyes from the now naked humanoid form. Chūya climbed up on the side and threw himself off into the water. Dazai held his breath for a second, just a second, until Chūya propelled himself up out of the water, his tail having immediately returned once he hit the water.

"Come on!" he yelled and motioned Dazai over the side. Dazai sighed, shaking his head as he climbed up and dropped down into the water. Chūya swam up to him and grabbed him in a hug.

"Are you feeling better in the water?" Dazai inquired. The last three days, Chūya had been lackluster and tired. Now, his face was lit up and he was excitedly swimming circles around him.

"Yes, I feel amazing!" Chūya told him as he dove down under where Dazai was treading water.

"I'm glad." Dazai wasn't going to admit to it, but he'd been quite worried about his merman.

"I felt like I was never going to swim again!" he exclaimed, diving down and splashing Dazai with his tail.

Dazai was caught by how beautiful he was in the water. In the tank, he had seen him, but now was different. This was his natural world, and the natural state for him. It was a sight to behold. Dazai treaded water as long as he could while Chūya swam near him. Finally, he was beginning to tire.

"Chūya, I need to go back to the ship, I grow weary," Dazai called when he came back up to look around.

"Okay!" Chūya swam back toward Dazai and helped him on the lift to take him up out of the water. He then followed him next, having no difficulty on the lift when it was dunked under the waterline. He rolled off the side into the boat with a loud thump. His tail was longer than his body normally was, making him bigger than most the humans on the ship lengthwise. He sat up, pulling his tail up around him to wait until he dried off again.

Dazai lay on the deck panting. "That was exhausting. Are you not weary?"

"No, I feel wonderful!" Chūya said happily.

"So, it would seem that he has to be in the water every week or so, otherwise he gets sickly. That is good information to have," Kunikida nodded as he made a note in his book.

Dazai sighed and sat up. "I'll get something to dry you off faster," he told him.

He came back with a towel and wrapped his tail in it. Chūya was definitely better now that he had been. He seemed to have gotten back his energy and was feeling well again. Dazai smiled fondly at him. He was glad that he seemed to be better. After about an hour, his legs had fully returned. It had been an interesting thing to watch as his fins receded, and his tail slowly split in two. Kunikida was fascinated by it, and so was Yosano. Atsushi watched from away from him, still a bit awkward around Chūya.

Once he had his legs back, he got back into his clothes, putting his hat back on his head and smiled at Dazai. Dazai felt his heart thump in his chest and knew he didn't want to let go of him for a moment.

"Say, we've got a boat on the horizon!" Tanizaki yelled out from the helm.

"Can you tell who it is and are they coming our way?" Fukuzawa asked as he stepped out of his cabin with his hands tucked into his sleeves.

"It's the Port Mafia, and it's heading straight for us…" he called, turning back from the spyglass.

"This could be problematic," the captain muttered as he looked over at Chūya.

"Are they after me?" Chūya asked, wide-eyed.

"I don't know," Dazai said. "They may just pass us by."

"They're altering course to come right in line with us," Tanizaki said, staring through the spyglass again.

Fukuzawa sighed. "Let's keep our heading and see if we can't put some distance between us."

For a tense two hours, they tried to outrun the Port Mafia, but it seemed their ship was a bit faster and was catching up to them. Before long, they were even with the Ada, canons trained on the other ship. Captain Mori stood on the helm and yelled across.

"If you give me the creature, I'll leave you be."

Chūya clutched Dazai hard. "I don't want to go with them."

"You haven't got a choice. Hand him over or we fire," Mori said with surety.


End file.
